#because theyre DEEPLY private about it and hide it as much as possible

[rxttenfish]

mmmmm

honestly miranda tends to express the... fairly normal merfolk trauma response of when she starts to get severely upset, she exclusively just wants to touch and be touched by those in her miivt'ia and turns hostile/aggressive and even possessive against anyone else around her. mainly whats happening is that the trauma makes her perceive everyone else as an actively threatening presence to her and her miivt'ia at that moment and retreating to the safety and assurance of her miivt'ia helps to self-soothe and to calm down.

for miri (and for most other traumatized merfolk too, tbh) this primarily features her clinging on/holding onto aaravi or bellanda tightly (soothing, comforting, the subconscious connection between doing so to not drift away in her sleep makes her feel safe and secure) and hiding her face against them (both for protection and closing out of other stimuli, but also hiding her mouth and any more unintentional "aggressive" responses she might have). ultimately the goal is to calm down and to stop being upset, it can just be a dramatic example of it since its a case when a merfolk would need to be alone and could not have a lot of other people around.

her and aaravi have a code for it and a cue for when miranda starts to really get upset in a crowded situation or someplace with other people. aaravi in particular has really taken this to heart as someone who also needs something very similar and can also get defensive/aggressive for miranda's sake when something happens to start causing it... and bellanda and miranda have existed for so long in this state together that to anyone else it looks like they can read each others minds. which is a little distressing, because if aaravi is defensive, then bellanda will get outright violent about it and cares significantly less if she hurts anyone else or burns any bridges over it.